demhem

Someone asked about a roof at one of the focus group events and the project team expressed that adding a roof to the stadium would be cost prohibitive.

https://www.woodtv.com/news/grand-rapids/adobe-in-out-gets-new-name-to-relocate-west-side-location/ This opens up the Adobe corner for redevelopment.

In the meeting that I was at where this was presented, the developer said that the numbers just don't work right now to tear it down and build new (cost prohibitive). They tried to get a retail tenant to no avail. Also, the building is named after the owner's son. It is a by-right conversion.

My understanding is that the building is being converted to apartments. There will be some exterior improvements as well. No teardown last I knew.

Related to stadium development/discussion of joint facilities, GVSU is investing more money into Lubbers Stadium in Allendale. See the end of the article: https://www.gvsu.edu/gvnext/2023/gvsu-board-approves-creating-college-focused-on-computing-and-advanced-technology.htm In other board action: The board approved the construction of additional restroom and concession facilities at the northwest corner of Lubbers Stadium. New restroom fixtures will expand restroom capacity. Meanwhile, concession areas will be expanded on both the lower and upper levels. In addition, the project calls for providing elevator access to the upper areas of the stadium. The project is slated for completion before the start of the 2024 football season.

Strong Towns GR has taken a stance against the project: https://www.strongtownsgr.org/strongtowns-gr-journal/corewell-health-parking?fbclid=IwAR3HkD4lrqe-kZd10MkeZ-DgwRQx-vnZmeuyHdznki5VZSbxz8Gz5vmMu1w EDIT: I'm not affiliated with Strong Towns GR but this was shared with me and I found it relevant to the discussion.

The Zoo has become so popular on certain days that they park cars across the entire park making it practically unusable for the neighborhood. When overflow was just occasional overflow, the grass situation was fine, but now that it is the status quo, the usability and quality of the park is being degraded. The ground gets packed down/rutted and makes it a poor playing surface for field sports (soccer, ultimate, football) and during dry times the dust blows into the neighborhood, etc. IMO, there is not an easy slam dunk solution here. Things cannot continue as they are, but making large portions of the park a paved parking lot is not acceptable either.

I wasn't able to snag a photo as I drove by, but the old Lexington School is being converted into housing with 39 residential units. Looks like an addition is planned as well.

I'm sure we can all speculate endlessly regarding the intention of the original proposal vs what is being proposed now. Either way, I would argue that the current application that will go before the Planning Commission is unacceptable for an urban core. We can discuss all we want to on here, but if there are those of us who do not agree with Corewell's plan, we should be communicating it to the Planning Commission in writing, by attending the meeting, etc.

"Monroe North: your newest suburban office park!" /s This is really disappointing and I hope that the Planning Commission holds its ground like they did recently with Mary Free Bed. The housing is great, but the amount of surface parking will significantly set the neighborhood back.

My understanding is that they are moving Moosejaw's operations from Madison Heights to be with Public Lands in Pittsburg. Unfortunately, Dick's will likely ruin the company culture of Moosejaw and the brand loyalty along with it . The stores played a large role in making Moosejaw what it is; typically had well trained staff, would price match, and sponsor local climbing, biking, and other competitions. Wal-Mart largely left Moosejaw alone to continue operating independently.

Houston is a strange place.

If you check their social media accounts, Cheeky Strut hasn't closed and is renovating their downtown space.

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/restaurants-1/el-granjero-owner-ditches-retirement-plans-to-launch-new-west-side-cafe/ This will be a great little neighborhood addition. Hoping for some building façade/exterior improvements. It looks like they were approved for an outdoor patio.

https://www.crainsgrandrapids.com/news/real-estate/boutique-hotel-would-bring-lodging-option-to-grand-rapids-bustling-bridge-street/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_term=grand+rapids+business+journal&utm_content=ae88069f-2d66-4e18-9d0e-39f86b4068d9 Boutique hotel on Bridge Street.

There aren't really that many NIMBYs. There are just a few JBAN Board members that will say no to almost anything in an effort to freeze the neighborhood in time (at least that is my perception). In my experience as a homeowner, they do not speak for most of the neighborhood residents, even though they are the loudest voices.

There are some on here that may not have been through a development design process before. Changing a design does not necessarily mean that they do not know what they are going for or that they are out of touch with the urban context. It is likely that the reality of soils, space planning, EGLE, FEMA, costs, etc. came into play when they got further into engineering and designing the site. It's easy to plop a speculative design that fits for renderings, but much of the time those designs change as physical constraints and needs are considered and explored. You don't spend a ton of money doing full engineering and design up front when you don't know if something will be funded, land will be sold, etc. It is also possible that this thing is being phased. The City might not be moving all of its facilities at once. Some of the surrounding amenities might not be built right away. Incrementalism is a part of city building. I don't want to see a surface parking lot either, but maybe that is necessary to get this going and it will be upgraded later. I'd love to ask some questions.

I would be curious to see the data on this (I can't access the article). Are they counting 18 leaving but not noting the number of new businesses coming in? What are the boundaries that they consider "downtown?" The company I work for is located downtown. While we did see a tenant in our building leave during COVID (2021), we have since seen two new tenants added to our building, one existing tenant expand into vacant space, and we are full for the first time in five years. This is anecdotal experience in one building, but our experience is far from the doom and gloom the article seems to imply.

Agreed. These small cocktail lounges can get away with no windows/no street presence and succeed because of the speakeasy/private vibe (Sidebar, Lowbar in TC, several in Chicago I can't remember the name of anymore). Some are located in basements or down drab hallways.

https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2023/05/new-shuttle-service-would-link-grand-rapids-airport-with-downtown.html?utm_campaign=grandrapidspress_sf&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&fbclid=IwAR2WVdoW165BRfIVkmXx4jEUCvL2XJW4NkfLPMUdCyv9_FdaGXWSLQ04EjM Airport to downtown shuttle. Also, unfortunate paywall.

I'm fairly certain this is an old conceptual rendering. If you look back at the previous Capital Outlay Plans, the Blue Dot Lab was originally planned for the Allendale campus.

But how is this different from any other college campus located in an urban environment in Michigan? Go to UM Ann Arbor, Wayne State, MSU, etc. and you see the same thing. College campuses have traditionally had open space between buildings in a park-like setting (the word campus is derived from a Latin word for "field" after all).

The Sovengard building renovation is really taking off. They've pulled off a lot of the secondary wood façade that covered the original brick and have a "future home of" sign up.

That Tim Hortons contributed to its own demise (along with COVID). As someone who grew up with Tim Hortons in the Detroit area 20 years ago, I was routinely disappointed by what that shop was selling (undercooked, poor quality, small portions).

The building has been painted white and there is a sign out front. Other than that I haven't seen any announcements.